Who will win Spain vs Portugal, Iberia Cup 2019?
Spain and Portugal meet in a full T20 international for the first time, in the first match of the revived Iberia Cup. The 2019 tournament will take place at the La Manga Club, Murcia, and this match – the first of the series – takes place on October 25. The live action begins at 15:00 local time.
Spain start the tournament as favourites, having made a big effort to produce a full and varied T20i calendar since Associate nations were bestowed with full T20i status. They most recently came from behind to beat Finland 2-1 in a three-game series.
Portugal, on the other hand, will be playing their first T20 internationals. They have not played any T20 cricket since the 2018 group stage of the European qualifier for the T20 World Cup. They won their final game – their only win – against Cyprus to ensure they did not finish bottom of their group.
SPA vs POR, Iberia Cup 2019: Where to watch/Live streaming
Live streaming: European Cricket Network
SPA vs POR Toss Prediction
Overall, Spain tended to bat first upon winning the toss in La Manga during their recent T20i Triangular Series at the ground.
SPA vs POR Weather Report
La Manga will be sunny and dry on Friday for the start of the Iberia Cup. Temperatures are forecast to be around 21 degrees Celsius, with zero chance of rain.
SPA vs POR Pitch Condition
While the form book at La Manga is hard to judge, given the very different levels of players to have used it in recent months, the general feeling is that good batsmen can score big runs.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Spain vs Portugal, Iberia Cup 2019...
Spain Team News & Playing 11
SPA Team News
One-time UAE paceman Raja Adeel, who played one first class match for the United Arab Emirates, has been named in the Spain squad for the first time. Faisalabad veteran Tauqeer Hussain has been recalled, meanwhile, after missing the tour of Finland. Christian Munoz Mills again captains the team.
SPA Key Players
Yasir Ali: The big-hitting batsman caught the eye in the European T10 Cricket League for Catalunya and he already has a T20i half-century to his name too, scored against Malta at La Manga.
Awais Ahmed: Quiet with the bat against Finland, but he made history earlier this year when he smashed Spain’s first T20i century – 102* from 64 balls against Malta.
Ravi Panchal: In inspired form during the T20i series win against Finland, he was joint-top of Spain’s bowling charts with six wickets across the three games, while he hit 23, 32 and a match-winning 71* to top the Spanish batting charts too.
SPA Team Form
Spain won the T20i Triangular Series they hosted at La Manga against Malta and an Estonian XI, which included Awais Ahmed’s century against the former, before coming from behind to beat Finland 2-1 in their first bilateral series. Ravi Panchal’s unbeaten 71 from 36 balls helped them chase 159 to win the decider by four wickets, with two balls to spare.
Spain Predicted Playing 11
Awais Ahmed (wk), Faran Afzal, Yasir Ali, Ravi Panchal, Kuldeep Lal, Christian Munoz-Mills (c), Paul Hennessy, Tauqeer Hussain, Raja Adeel, Atif Mehmood, Tom Vine
Portugal Team News & Playing 11
POR Team News
Portugal’s 15-man squad only features five of the players who played in the win against Cyprus in the final game of the European Region group stage of the T20 World Cup qualifier in 2018. Paulo Buccimazza remains as captain, but new additions include wicket-keeper Francoise Stoman. Portugal’s entire XI, of course, will be making their T20i debuts.
POR Key Players
Paulo Buccimazza: Signed off from the World Cup qualifier last year by taking 2-15 from four overs against Cyprus, and he will now lead Portugal for their first ever T20 international.
Tariq Aziz: Showed his best form in Portugal’s narrow defeat to France during that qualifier, when he followed up his 3-19 with the ball by scoring 48 with the bat, following up his unbeaten 32 in the opening game.
Arslan Ahmed: Hit 49 from 34 balls against Cyprus, to lead Portugal to their only win of their qualifying group in their most recent international (though not full T20i) fixtures.
POR Team Form
Portugal have not yet played a T20 international since it was announced all Associate Nations had been granted the status by the ICC. They last played in the group stage of the ICC T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier, losing to Austria, Denmark, France and Germany but then beating Cyprus in their final game to finish fifth out of six teams. Against Cypurs, Arslan Ahmed fell just short of a half-century as hit a match-winning 49 from 34 balls.
Portugal Predicted Playing 11
Tariq Aziz, Zohaib Sarwar, Arslan Ahmed, Imran Khan, Md Fakhrul Hussain, Paulo Buccimazza (c), Francoise Stoman (wk), Sukhwinder Singh, Assad Mehmood, Mian Mehmood, Najjam Shahzad
Spain vs Portugal Head to Head
This is Portugal’s first ever T20 international, and therefore their first against Spain too.
🏆 Spain vs Portugal Prediction
Spain are favourites to win this tournament, having made a strong start to life as a full T20i team against their fellow Associates nations.
Final Verdict: Back Spain to beat Portugal.
Oct 25, 2019
18:30 IST / 13:00 GMT
La Manga Club Bottom Ground - Cartagena, Spain
Iberia Cup T20 
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